New York, NY - Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced on Thursday that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has cleared the way for the Staten Island Bluebelt expansion project to minimize flooding caused by super storms such as Hurricane Sandy.

The new Creek West Branch project - the formal name for the Bluebelt expansion - will address wetland rehabilitation and flood management in an area of Midland Beach that is prone to flooding.

The Bluebelt is crucial for water drainage and future flood mitigation projects and currently provides a storm water management system for one-third of the Island.

"I am pleased that the EPA has given the necessary green light to the Bluebelt expansion, which Staten Island so urgently needs to implement environmentally smart and effective anti-flooding measures," Schumer said.

"The tremendous damage wrought by Hurricane Sandy to both inland and shoreline areas in Staten Island made it crystal clear that we need to enhance our flood mitigation and sewer capacity measures throughout the borough, and now we have both the approval and funding we need to do just that."

The project recently received $7.5 million in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) after a push by Schumer.

Even before Hurricane Sandy, the city DEP was looking to expand the Bluebelt and a key part of the project - creek and pond dredging - and sought approval from the the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for sites in South Beach, Midland Beach and Oakwood Beach early last year. However, the federal EPA objected in April over environmental concerns related to habitat. At Schumer's urging, the federal EPA recently withdrew its objection regarding Midland Beach and efforts continue to secure approval for South Beach and Oakwood Beach.

Approximately 80 percent of streets in and around the project area in Midland Beach regularly flood since they do not have storm sewers. Rain water collects in low lying areas because there is no outlet for the water since the West Branch of New Creek is filled with sediment and thus unable to process storm water. The project will remove the silt and use other methods to open up the West Branch wetland system, thereby reducing chronic flooding and allowing the low-lying area surrounding it to drain more rapidly after a storm.

Bluebelt drainage systems are in the process of being built on the South Shore of the Island in 15 watersheds plus the Richmond Creek watershed, amounting to a total watershed area of about 10,000 acres.